Ofgem Data Predicts 6.5M UK Households Will Buy EV
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In a bid to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels and cut down on carbon emissions from the transportation sector, the United Kingdom will prohibit the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030. The ban had initially been set for 2040, but under Prime Minister Borris Johnson’s new green plan, the ban was moved up to 2030, with car manufacturers being allowed to sell hybrid vehicles until 2035. With the ban on fossil fuel-powered vehicles fast approaching, new research has found out that one in four UK households plan on buying an electric vehicle (“EV”) within the next five years.
According to energy watchdog Ofgem, 6.5 million households (24%) intend to purchase either a battery electric vehicle (“BEV”) or a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle in the next five years. Additionally, the energy watchdog found that 38% (more than one-third) of UK households were unlikely to switch to a zero-emission vehicle within the coming five years for a variety of reasons. An estimated 59% of these households said electric vehicles were just too expensive for them to make the switch, 38% were concerned about short battery life coupled with reduced driving range compared to conventional internal combustion engine (“ICE”) vehicles, while 36% were concerned that they would have nowhere to charge their EVs close to their residence.
The UK Department for Transport recently revealed that there are more than 500,000 very-low-emissions automobiles on the country’s roads. In the past four months, one in seven (13.6%) of all cars sold in the UK were either battery EVs or plug-in hybrids, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders says, with electric and hybrid vehicles making up more than one in ten sales last year. However, even though more Britons are buying electric vehicles, a couple of factors stand firmly in the way of widespread EV adoption: high upfront costs coupled with a sparse and often unreliable public charging infrastructure.
Fortunately, stakeholders are constantly working on eliminating these barriers. Electric cars and vans will soon be as cheap to produce as conventional vehicles, with research from Bloomberg finding that the cost of producing these ultra-low emission vehicles will have reduced significantly by 2027, making them cheaper to buy than fossil fuel-powered vehicles by the time the government’s ban takes effect in 2030.
Ofgem will also make a significant investment in electrification, says the company’s chief executive Jonathan Brearley, spending millions of pounds to help develop a flexible energy system to support the influx of electric vehicles.
The involvement of players such as Net Element (NASDAQ: NETE) that are traditionally from other sectors is likely to accelerate EV adoption even more in regions such as North America, given that those companies come with diverse experience that can be tapped to promote vehicle electrification.
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